Chuck Versus Hollywood
by FluffyPikachuLovesYou
Summary: Chuck Bartowski is an up and coming singer that is waiting for the last push to get his breakthrough. Sarah Walker is an A list actress who got caught in some scandals and is in need of good publicity. When their managers meet, they decide that the best way to help the other is to have the two stars fake date. Can they keep their relationship professional or will lines get blurred?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! So... for my readers in the PJO world, I've decided to alternate posts between this story and _Stranded_ just so that posts stay regular, the quality consistent, and the ability to post two stories at once.:) So, expect updates every other week.

That being said, Welcome to the world of Chuck! Or, well, the alternate universe of Chuck... LOL! I hope you guys enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Chuck as Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are the gods of their creation and Warner Brothers hasn't put up the brand for sale.

* * *

"And today, we have up and coming artist Charles Carmichael," the radio host said into his microphone. "How's it going Charles?"

"Oh, call me Chuck," the singer said, chuckling.

"Alright, Chuck," the host laughed. "How's it been?"

"It's been pretty good, actually," he nodded. "I finished writing my latest album a little while back and we just finalized everything so we're good for release in about two weeks."

"Can you tell us a little bit about what we can expect from your first album? I mean, we've only really ever heard you sing covers so…"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm not the kind of person that would change who I am just to be popular like Justin Bieber or anything. My album's name is _The Intersect_ because it serves as a kind of an intersection between two kinds of music and meshes it into one. Officially, my music kind of hovers in the Indie genre but there are a few songs that have a lot of vocal power, like broadway."

"That's pretty interesting. It's different." The radio host shuffled the papers in front of him. "So, Chuck, a lot of ladies on twitter have been asking, are you dating anyone? Any special ladies in your life?"

"Uh, actually, not as of late," Chuck laughed, but behind the facade he was forced to create for the cameras, his heart was clenching at the reference to his ex-girlfriend. "I guess so far, the only special lady in my life is my sister, Ellie. She practically raised me so…"

"Aw, really?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm sure that someone will come around real soon for you," the host assured.

"Haha! I'm looking forward to that day!" The two talked about other topics for the remainder of the interview: his favorite things, his pet peeves, a prospective tour, any other projects that he is contemplating.

"Well, unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today," the host began his sign off. "Thank you for joining us, Chuck. Everyone, don't forget to pick up Charles Carmichael's newest album,_The Intersect_, out in stores in about two weeks! August 18th am I correct?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, well, it was nice talking to you, Chuck." The two men laughed. "I can't wait to hear more from you in the future. Let's take a sneak peek at _The Intersect_ with Chuck's latest single 'Helicopter.'" The host pressed a button on the soundboard in front of him and the intro of the familiar song began playing throughout the studio. Both men took off their headphones and stood, Chuck towering over the short radio host by several inches. They shook hands. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Chuck."

"Likewise," Chuck replied politely.

"I hope to see you soon."

Chuck smiled and walked out of the studio and back out into the lobby area where his manager and best friend in the world, Morgan Grimes, was waiting. "Way to go, buddy!" the tiny bearded man said reaching up to clap Chuck on the back. "Team Bartowski moving up in the world, huh?"

"Yeah, Morgan. It's great," Chuck responded not as enthused as Morgan would have liked.

"Come on, man. This is the dream! Get over Jill already. There are bigger fish in the sea! You're a recording artist now."

Chuck wasn't going to deny that he was still hung up over his ex-girlfriend, Jill. "How am I supposed to do that?" he asked. "I gave her four years of my life. I nearly proposed to her."

"I know, man," Morgan sympathized. "But hey, now, she's gonna see you and regret ever breaking up with you."

"I guess so," he said. He tried to give a reassuring smile but it turned out more like a grimace. "Come on, we have that meeting with the record company, right?"

"Yeah! That's right." Morgan pulled out his phone and made a call. A minute later, a black SUV pulled up outside of the lobby and Chuck and Morgan stepped in, ducking their heads at the paparazzi that were snapping pictures of them.

The driver drove off and headed down to Sunset Boulevard to the large building that had the name Castle Records and the logo on a brick sign just outside the front door. Chuck and Morgan made their way to the elevators and up to the eighth floor. As they walked through the doors to the conference room, a small red-headed woman stood at the head of the table with a lawyer and two bodyguards at her side. Chuck recognized her as the CEO of Castle Records. "Diane," Morgan greeted. The small woman shot him a look. "Mrs. Beckman," he amended quickly.

"Mr. Grimes, Mr. Bartowski," she greeted, calling Chuck by his real name and not by his stage name. He didn't want to change it but the record company thought it would be hard for him to sell anything with that name so they came with a compromise that he gets the final say for each song he records in exchange for him taking up a stage name. A small price to pay to get his music out. "I'm sure, you both have been wondering what we've called you in about."

"Uh, yeah," Morgan agreed, taking a seat. "Your call was very vague."

"We simply wanted to congratulate Mr. Bartowski on the success of his first single." Chuck smiled but that soon deflated when she continued. "However, it wasn't as successful as we predicted it to be."

"But," Morgan argued sitting up straight. "It's on Billboard's Hot 100."

"Yes, Mr. Grimes, it is, but it's not in the Top 40," Mrs. Beckman countered. "Castle Records is a growing company with only one recording artist thus far: Mr. Bartowski. Our entire company is riding on his success. If we produce a great artist, more clientele will come to us for recording contracts and not our competitors."

"So what are you saying?" Chuck interrupted.

"We're saying, that we will be helping you." Chuck furrowed his eyebrows.

"How, how exactly are you going to do that Mrs. Beckman?"

"A colleague of mine's client has gotten herself into some pressing scandals and is in need of some good publicity to clear her name off of the media's burn list," Diane Beckman explained a little too vaguely for Chuck's taste. "I've agreed to help him out on the condition that he helps me out with you."

"Uhuh, Okay," Chuck nodded, still slightly confused but was slowly starting to catch on. "Other than him helping us, how does that apply to me?"

"You need a scandal to get your name out there and she needs a scandal that will pull attention away from her previous scandals."

"You're still being very vague, Mrs. Beckman," Chuck said leaning forward slightly.

"You're going to date her," she said. Chuck's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Date her?" he asked. "Who's her?"

"Not exactly, date her. Make a couple of public appearances, hold hands, cuddle, things that couples do."

"So, fake date her?"

"Essentially."

"And you didn't answer my previous question. Who is this girl?" Chuck asked growing more confused than frustrated.

Mrs. Beckman's eyes tore away from his and looked behind him where he heard a door open. He spun around and was looking into the eyes of his middle and high school crush. She took a few steps forward and removed her aviator sunglasses letting Chuck see her cerulean eyes in person for the first time. A moment that he had been dreaming about since he had first seen her act in the sitcom 'The Life and Times of a Middle Schooler.'

"Vicky Vale," he heard Morgan breathe but ignored it as he was literally blown away by her presence.

"Chuck, I want you to meet Oscar winning actress, Ms. Sarah Walker."

* * *

And there you have it folks! It's a little short, yes, but it will get longer.

Don't forget to Review, Favorite, and Follow!

Remember,

Fluffy Pikachu Loves You!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Guys! I'm back with Chapter 2! Did ya miss me? Glad to see I got some pretty positive reviews! I'm so excited to get working on this story! It is my first Chuck one so... :)

Now, here's something that I love to do, I always pick six (in this case seven) reviews to respond to so if you do review, you might be featured here! (P.s. I love to respond to the long ones. They're my favorites to read.)

**fezzywhigg:** Welcome! A loft can happen with this story... I have a pretty good buffer up, but who knows where we'll head.

**theoly21:** I'm pretty excited to see where I'm going with this too... ;)

**Guest (Guest):** Dont, worry, there will be drama... We just need to get through the basics first.

**Molotov:** First off, I would like to say thank you for noticing the little things. I take pride in making tiny references to the show. :) As for Sarah, it's funny that you mention Lindsay Lohan... ;) That will be explained in this chapter.

**Graydon (Guest):** Thanks! I've had this in mind for quite some time so I. Excited to finally publish it.

**Sandson41:** Yes, a lot could happen with these plot lines... Guess you'll just have to wait and see.

And yes, I must not forget...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Chuck as Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are the gods of their creation and Warner Brothers hasn't put up the brand for sale.

* * *

"Graham, I don't know why you're making me do this," Sarah said as she stepped into the black SUV sitting in the driveway of her Hollywood Hills home, rolling her eyes in annoyance. Her bodyguard, John Casey, sliding into the front seat by the driver after closing the door behind her.

"Sarah," Langston Graham, her manager and agent, tried to reason. "You've been tied to three scandals in the past month. It's a little much, don't you think?"

"There's no such thing as bad publicity," Sarah argued.

"There is," Graham countered. "One or two minor incidents within a timeframe of six months if fine but three big ones in only one month, that could lose fans and supporters."

"You're talking crazy."

"No, I'm not Sarah. three major magazines are calling you a 'loose cannon.' That's not the kind of publicity you want. If you keep going down this road, you're going to end up like Lindsay Lohan."

"Graham, I have perfect control of this situation."

"No you don't, Sarah. People are going to watch your movies more, yes, but they'll start wondering if you were ever that good of an actor and soon, all of your movies will lose success because when your name pops up on the cast role, all they are going to think about is the shit that you got yourself into a few years back." Sarah opened her mouth to protest but Graham held up a hand to stop her. "That is why I'm stepping in."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked growing even more frustrated.

"I called in a favor with an old friend of mine. She agreed to help on the condition that we help her client."

"Who said I agreed?"

"I did. And you do."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. And, quite frankly, I don't think you understand the predicament that you've put yourself in."

Relenting, Sarah sighed as the car began to slow and they turned onto Sunset Boulevard. "What do I have to do?"

"Everything will be explained soon." With that, he fell silent and Sarah stared out the window, watching the different shops and restaurants roll by.

Sarah took the time to think about the last three situations she'd unfortunately found herself in. The first one wasn't so bad. Some paparazzi caught her leaving a bar drunk but it wasn't like she was driving. John Casey was there and he took her home. No harm done. The next one wasn't that bad either. She got caught for speeding down the 405 in her Porsche. No one got hurt and she was in perfect control of her vehicle. The blonde didn't find anything wrong with a person getting a ticket. Only, she figured, she wasn't just a person. She was an actress. An Oscar winning actress. So, obviously, the media would want to blow up every story where she got into a little bit of trouble. The last one really wasn't that great. It actually was pretty bad. No, it was really bad. The only problem was: it wasn't her fault. Her super-model-best-friend, Carina Miller, had convinced her to go out for a girl's night out with their other friends Zondra and Amy who were also a model and actress, respectively. The four of them had gotten into some pretty deep trouble when they'd gotten drunk and dressed up in cat outfits that they bought in their drunken haze. From there, they met a few boys outside of a club and spent the rest of the night with them. Sarah, of course, was able to restrain herself from sleeping with him since she wasn't the kind to go around with one night stands. Plus, she was lucky that the guy she had ended up with was a complete gentleman. She till winced every time the thought about that night and how things could have gone terribly wrong.

Sarah could see Graham's point from that last incident but she didn't see why they needed to take action to 'clear her name.' She couldn't think into it too much because the car slowed and pulled into the driveway of a large building. As they came to a stop, Sarah noticed that the sign said, Castle Records. She was confused as to why they were at a music label's building. Sarah did not sing. Ever.

Casey stepped out of the car first and opened the door for her, helping her out. Graham soon followed her out of the car and then ushered her into the building and toward the elevators.

The ascent to the eighth floor was short and they quickly located the conference room they were apparently looking for. Just before she opened the door, Sarah heard the conversation that was taking place inside and paused. "You're going to date her," she heard a female voice say, muffled by the door.

"Date her?" a male voice asked. "Who's her?"

"Not exactly, date her. Make a couple of public appearances, hold hands, cuddle, things that couples do." Sarah's eyes narrowed and she snuck a glance at her manager, her suspicion growing.

"So, fake date her?" the male voice asked for confirmation.

"Essentially," replied the female voice.

"And you didn't answer my previous question. Who is this girl?" Sarah had a nagging feeling that it was her and despite Graham's protests, placed a hand on the handle in front of her, turned it, and pushed to find two men sitting at the end of a conference table closest to her and a short red-headed woman standing at the farther end. The smaller lady looked at her and the two men turned to face her. She took off her sunglasses to get a better look at the men. The first one looked like he was shorter and had a beard all around the lower half of his face. The other one, Sarah had to admit, was sort of cute. Granted, he wasn't classically handsome, but he had a kind of nerdy, quirky look that she quickly found amusing. He stared at her like she was an angel sent from heaven even though they'd never met before and Sarah began to feel the blood rush to her cheeks, despite her conscious thought arguing against it.

She heard the bearded one exhale what sounded like "Vicky Vale," but she didn't pay him any attention.

"Chuck, I want you to meet Oscar winning actress, Ms. Sarah Walker." Sarah tore her gaze away from 'Chuck' and looked at the redhead. "Sarah, this is our up and coming recording artist, Charles Carmichael." Sarah figured that 'Chuck' was a nickname.

"It's, uh, Bartowski actually," Charles/Chuck Carmichael/Bartowski stated standing up to his full height and holding a hand out. Sarah had to keep herself from taking a step back from how tall he was. Sarah herself was pretty tall, reaching a full 5'9 and with her heels, which she was wearing, she reached 6'1 and yet, he still towered over her. Pulling her attention back down, she hesitantly took his hand and gave it a small shake.

"Um…" she hummed, confused, releasing her hand.

"My real name, it's Charles Bartowski. Carmichael is a stage name." Sarah nodded in understanding. A lot of stars changed their names to make it easier on the public. Although why he was telling her, she didn't know.

Sarah looked over and saw that the redhead, the bearded man, and Graham had moved to the other end of the room and began to speak in hushed tones. She saw her bodyguard, Casey, still standing at the doorway with his back to them. Sarah leaned in close. "Do you know why we're here?" she asked him in a low voice. She had heard the discussion before she walked in but she wanted to be sure she wasn't going crazy or anything.

"They think that us fake dating would be beneficial to both our careers," he said in the same low voice. Sarah raised an eyebrow at his choice of vocabulary. "I'm sorry, this isn't how I would've liked for us to meet."

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's just… I've sort of had a crush on you since 'The Life and Times of a Middle Schooler' and meeting you has been a dream of mine ever since, just, you know, not like this," he explained. Sarah smiled at the mention of the job that had rocketed her into stardom.

"Oh," she said blushing despite herself. This was not what she signed up for. She prefered the media to not know about her private life antheiryre're were putting together an entire scheme that would basically put it on the front page of every tabloid, newspaper, magazine, and search page. She had just gotten out of a serious relationship with male model and fellow co-star Bryce Larkin after dating exclusively for two years. At least, she thought they were exclusive. Turns out, he'd been cheating on her for the last few months with an old college flame of his. The last thing she wanted was a fake relationship where the lines could get blurred. She just needed to get the job done. Get herself back into the green zone with the media and she'd be fine.

"I hope you're okay with this," Chuck said, interrupting her thoughts. "I mean, I guess I'm okay with it and believe me I've wanted to date you for a long time but I never expected it to be like this and we're not even really dating so, does it even count?..." Sarah watched amusedly as he rambled on to himself. His eyebrows scrunched up to the middle of his forehead and he looked down at the ground. She could tell that he really was new to the industry because he emitted a sense of insecurity that most male singers seemed to lack. He still had his innocence that the industry tended to strip from every dream filled musician or thespian had. Sarah decided then that even though she'd prefer to not do this and would like to keep things professional for her sake, she wouldn't mind fake dating him.

"Chuck," she said, interrupting him in the middle of his sentence. "You're rambling."

"Was I? Sorry. I do that when I'm nervous."

"It's fine. At first I was a little bit skeptical, but now, not so much," she said smiling at him. His face broke out into the biggest smile she'd ever seen and it made her heart pick up pace and pound in her chest. Off to the side, someone cleared their throat and the two stars turned to face their respective management teams.

"We've come to a conclusion," Graham said. "Since the two of you run in different circles, it would be difficult for you two to form a proper relationship without questions from the media so, your first meeting will be at the Teen Choice Awards. We've contacted the coordinators and got you two seats right next to each other. Other than that change, you will go on with the night accordingly." They both nodded in agreement.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Chuck couldn't believe that he would be dating Sarah Walker. Well, fake dating at least. It didn't matter. The world would think that they were dating and that was enough for him. He got to hold her hand and hug her and just be with her. "It would be best if you kept this strictly professional," he heard Sarah's manager, Graham, say. That made Chuck snap back to reality from his daydream.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

"This relationship that you two will have," he said. "It should remain professional. For the sake of keeping your eventual break up clean, without any strings attached." Chuck's heart dropped. Of course they would break up. If not, they'd have to get married and there was no way that they could fake that. Besides, it wouldn't be totally crazy if the two of them broke up after a few months of dating. Celebrities did that all the time. He snuck a glance at Sarah who sat beside him with an emotionless face. She was an actor. This would be easy for her. It was her job to conceal her emotions and finish the job. Chuck, on the other hand, was an emotional fireball. His feelings ran his life and he wasn't sure if he could go through with something like this anymore. "Also, no one outside of this room should know about it. We can't risk any leaks."

_So, Ellie can't know that this is all a fake?_ he thought to himself. _I've never lied to Ellie._

"You do understand, right?" Graham asked him. Everyone, including Sarah, looked at him, waiting for his response.

"Uh… yeah," he answered, nodding, pushing back all of the negative thoughts, deciding that he'd deal with them later. "Then, let's do this." Graham typed something on his computer and shut it, placing it back in his bag. "I look forward to the Teen Choice Awards this weekend," he said standing up. "Diane, Mr. Grimes." He nodded to them. "Sarah," Graham gestured for her to stand. She listened, gave Chuck one last small smile, and followed her manager out the door.

* * *

And voila! Not too fancy but at least you know a bit more about Sarah! :) I kinda wanted to do a spin on cole whole cover dating thing what with celebrity scandals and playing roles, so... :) Well, that was chapter two! See ya in about two weeks!

Lemme know what you think about this chapter, what you think is gonna happen nekind and/or what kind of situation you want to find Chuck and Sarah in. I'm giving yYou a chance to inspire part of the story. If I do use your idea, I WILL give you credit for it _I promise!_

Don't forget to Review, Favorite, and Follow!

Remember,

Fluffy Pikachu Loves You!


	3. Chapter 3

Yo, yo, yo! Hey guy! It's been a while! Man... I would have gotten this out sooner but as I was writing my authors's note, pay ipad died on me. :( oh well. So, bittersweet news: yesterday (Friday) was my last day of high school. Better news: tomorrow (Sunday) is my eighteenth birthday. And bittersweet-but-slightly-better news: on Monday, I graduate! It's crazy how busy this last week has been! Geez!

**bcpiano:** I feel ya! I really do! I'm trying to get longer chapters out, it's just a bit difficult since I have set places in the story where I want each chapter to end. So most of the length comes from details so I will try to add more of those for you. :)

**Molotov:** I will get to those eventually! We can't just rush into all of the background info right off the bat so it will appear eventually.

**Chuckfanster:** We'll see. I'm not sure if I want Sarah to sing since that may be too convenient and I kind of want to keep their separate careers pretty separate aside from visits to the set and input and things like that. In regards to Beckman and Graham, that's great! I will definitely add a little spurt that outlines their history. :)

**phnxgrl:** Yeah... It was just a little idea that came to me out of no where and had to get it down somewhere!

**Purrum:** I already have a plan islet up for their "meet" and if Chuck spilled a drink on Sarah, that would ruin her dress! We don't want that! ;) But thanks for the suggestion! I already had this chapter pre-written so if you want to give other suggestions, feel free! I'll try to include them in future chapters.

**waschal** **(Guest):** Yeah... I feel hat way about a lot of the fandom archives as of late. Nothing has really peaked my interest. I'm so glad that mine did that that you've decided to jump on board! I do update regularly every two weeks since I've got another story that I write for Percy Jackson.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Chuck as Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are the gods of their creation and Warner Brothers hasn't put up the brand for sale.

**Note:** All lyrics written for Chuck's songs _are_ mine and therefore any usage must have permission from myself in order to use them. Thanks!

* * *

"We're here with up and coming recording artist, Charles Carmichael," the reporter said from the blue carpet at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards. "Hello, Charles! Welcome!"

"Please, call me Chuck," Chuck smiled.

"Well, Chuck, what's it like on the blue carpet?"

"It's absolutely fantastic. There are so many talented people around me and it's so humbling to just be in their presence." As if to prove his point, a little ways behind him, a wave of screams from fans erupted, signaling the arrival of yet another big star.

"Now, Chuck," the reporter continued. "You're nominated for two surfboards tonight: Choice Breakout Artist Male and Choice Summer Single for 'Helicopter.' How does that feel?"

"It feels great! I never thought that 'Helicopter' would get so big and now I'm here and I'm loving every minute of it. The other nominees are awesome and so talented and who ever wins tonight really deserves it."

"And, last, you're album _The Intersect_ is coming out soon. What can you tell us about that?"

"Just that it's really me. I wrote or co-wrote all of the songs so they all mean a lot to me and they really show who I am as a person and an artist. The name, _The Intersect_, is the intersection of the two kinds of music that I love: indie and showtunes. It's a really strange mix when you put them together but I like to think the producers and myself did pretty well and I'm pretty confident in our work."

The reporter smiled. "Well, thanks, Chuck! We hope you enjoy the show tonight and we also hope you win big."

"Thank you so much!" Chuck gave one final wave and walked off to have his picture taken in his suit. At first, the repetitive flashes were blinding and Chuck could barely see anything in front of him. He simply smiled and posed. He continued down the blue, velvet carpet, stopping every now and then to take pictures or to give a quick interview. He still hadn't caught sight of Sarah but he knew that she was going to be there, sitting next him. Chuck had just finished giving his fifth interview and walked a few more steps to take more pictures. As he stood in front of all the flashing lights, he thought about where he was. He couldn't believe that this was his life now. Award shows, premiers, interviews, and paparazzi were his life now. It came with the territory of putting his music out there and he had decided that despite the nuisance of constantly being scrutinized by the public eye, it was worth it. Now, however, the reality of it all really started to kick in. Before he could think about how he felt about that too much, he was whisked away by another reporter pining for an interview.

Eventually, he came up to the entrance of the Gibson Amphitheater and made his way inside. There were so many people in the theater it was crazy. Chuck's ears were ringing with all the screams from all the fans that were in the theater.

"It's pretty overwhelming isn't it?" Chuck whirled around to see Sarah standing behind him, she was wearing a beautiful, one strapped, red dress that flowed to the floor; her blonde hair was in a chignon bun. In her hand was a plain black clutch purse. Chuck was momentarily speechless as he simply stared at he beauty.

"Uh... huh?" He asked unintelligibly.

Sarah laughed her melodious laugh. "The crowd, the fans, the stage. It's all a little overwhelming, isn't it?"

Finally, Chuck snapped back into his common sense and was able to answer her question properly. "Uh, yeah, yeah, it's-it's all great. It, uh, it just makes me feel a bit small." He pinched his index finger and thumb together so they were only about a centimeter apart.

Sarah laughed again. "Don't worry," she assured, placing a gentle hand on his upper arm. "It gets better with time."

"Really?"

"No." Chuck's eyes bugged out out of his head and Sarah laughed again. "I'm kidding, Chuck. You'll be fine." Chuck seemed to notice that the paparazzi were already in the building to see all the stars interact with one another and he realized that they had already gotten multiple pictures of him and Sarah with her hand on his arm. Sarah, he realized, must've figured this out and was already playing the angle their managers had come up with. Suddenly, remembering that he was supposed to be smooth and suave and not bumbling and clumsy, Chuck straightened his spine and offered his arm to Sarah.

"May I escort you to your seat?" he asked.

"You may," Sarah replied. She looped her arm through his and let him lead her to their seats. Once they were seated, Chuck turned to her.

"So, are you nominated for anything?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Sarah answered. "Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure, Choice Smile, and Choice Female Hottie." She blushed slightly at the mention of her third nomination. Chuck nodded. He thought it was cute that she was embarrassed at the thought of other people thinking she was 'hot.' "What about you?" she asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. "What are you nominated for?"

"Just Choice Breakout Artist Male and Choice Summer Single with 'Helicopter,'" he said dismissively. "I'm probably not even going to win it."

"Hey," Sarah frowned. "Don't sell yourself short. I've heard your music and it's really good. I have no doubt that you'll win in both categories."

Chuck looked the actress in her eyes and his composure turned serious. "Same," he said simply. Sarah opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by the lights dimming and the stage lights flickering as music began to play over the speakers, signaling the opening of the awards.

"Teen choice awards! Are you ready to party?!" Miley Cyrus made her big entrance complete with background dancers, singing, flips, and special effects.

Chuck turned to Sarah and leaned in close to her ear so that she could hear him. "It's a pretty great opening, huh?" he asked.

Sarah leaned in close to him, her lips right next to his ears. "Yeah... I guess. Although, last year with Hilary Duff and Nick Cannon, I have to say that _that_ was a good year." The way her breath tickled his ear caused goosebumps to rise all over his arms and a shiver to run through his spine. Recovering, he pulled away and smiled at her.

Cameramen were going around, filming the different celebrities. One of them came around and filmed Chuck just as he leaned over and made another comment to Sarah that made her laugh. They went on, watching the show until a stage hand came by. "Mr. Carmichael," he said. "It's time." Chuck winked at Sarah, stood, and followed the stagehand backstage.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Sarah watched as Chuck walked away with the stage hand. She had to admit that the curly haired singer was definitely a character. Ever since they met and all throughout night, he had been able to put a smile on her face and make her laugh real, genuine laughs. Something that hadn't been accomplished in years. When they turned the corner and disappeared from their sight, Sarah's attention snapped back to the show on stage. "We've got a special treat for you guys tonight!" Miley Cyrus said into her microphone. "When we come back from the break, we have a special performance from the one and only Charles Carmichael!" The audience erupted into even louder cheers as the lights seemed to brighten slightly because of them being off-camera.

Sarah hadn't known that Chuck was going to be performing. Granted, she never looked at the program they had sent her since she didn't think that it was important enough. Surprisingly, Sarah's heart began to pound with anticipation. After she first met Chuck, she returned to her home, logged onto her computer, and spent the remainder of the day watching interviews and listening to his music - well, his one single and the audio of another song that his fans had managed to unlock in an online campaign thing. The only thing she didn't do was watch his performances, mostly because there were so few of them and fan-made cellphone videos didn't have the best quality. Sarah watched as all the stage hands moved around the stage, preparing it for the upcoming performance. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the lights dimmed and the three Jonas brothers stood on a section of the stage. "It gives us great pleasure to introduce a great friend of ours," Kevin, she recognized, said.

"This guy has taken the world by storm with his first single, 'Helicopter,' which we had the honor of co-writing," Joe continued.

"So, please give a warm welcome to the coolest dude around," Nick began. He paused and his brothers joined in.

"Charles Carmichael!" The spotlight on them shut off and the lights on the main stage brightened as smoke covered the floor.

"Teen Choice Awards!" Sarah recognized Chuck's voice as he acknowledged the audience. "It is great to be here tonight." The intro to the music began playing and the curly haired artist took a seat on the stool center stage.

"My life has been a whirlwind,  
Going crazy, my head is spinning.  
I never thought that this is where I'd be,

(Standing next to you)

You got my head up in the clouds,  
You hold me close so I don't drown  
In my mind, you're all I need.

I gotta ease right, goose the breaks,  
Make my way over to the landing gates.  
This helicopter ride is getting way too crazy.  
I don't want to  
Let the blades spiral out of control  
Lose everything that we worked hard for  
Give up a love that I'll never get over."

As Chuck moved into the chorus, his obvious nerves melted away, his eyes shut, and he lost himself in the music. He stood from the stool and started to move toward the stairs towards the audience. The cameramen followed him as he went up to Demi Lovato and placed a gentlemanly kiss on the back of her hand.

"You've always kept me on my toes  
Stay with me, keep me close,  
You are my unexpected love. Oh."

He moved further down the row until he reached her, still singing.

"I gotta ease right, goose the breaks,  
Make my way over to the landing gates.  
This helicopter ride is getting way too crazy.  
I don't want to  
Let the blades spiral out of control  
Lose everything that we worked hard for  
Give up a love that I'll never get over."

Chuck looked into her eyes and sang the chorus, pulling her up out of her seat. He twirled her once and kissed the back of her fingers just slightly more sensual than when he kissed Demi's. Whether it was for their fake budding relationship or for real, Sarah didn't know. She just went along with it as it would be the polite thing to do as well as help sell their little act. When he pulled away, he dropped her hand slightly, signaling that she could sit back down, though she found herself unwilling to comply. Chuck winked at her again and returned to the stage. Sarah found her knees threatening to give out and that was something she didn't want. Although Chuck was a nice guy, she couldn't see herself giving any part of her, especially her heart, to him just yet and according to their managers, they weren't supposed to be actually giving their hearts to each other. This was purely a business deal. Something that needed to be done. Someone had to maintain the professionalism and she had a feeling that Chuck was not the man for that.

"We've been moving way too fast, I just wanna slow down.  
Keep my head in the clouds but my feet on the ground.

I gotta ease right, goose the breaks,  
Make my way over to the landing gates.  
This helicopter ride is getting way too crazy.  
I don't want to  
Let the blades spiral out of control  
Lose everything that we worked hard for  
Give up a love that I'll never get over.

I gotta ease right, goose the breaks,  
Make my way over to the landing gates.  
This helicopter ride is getting way too crazy.  
I don't want to  
Let the blades spiral out of control  
Lose everything that we worked hard for  
Give up a love that I'll never get over."

The song ended and the entire audience got to their feet in applause. Sarah had to admit, Chuck really did have talent and deserved to be on Billboard's Top 40. There was just something about him that glowed whenever he performed and he seemed to make everyone around him feel good when he did.

Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas walked back onstage and met Chuck in the center. "Chuck," Joe said into his microphone. "It is also an honor for us to present to you, your very first surfboard!"

"What?" Chuck asked dumbfounded.

"Yeah, man," Nick said. " It's our honor to announce that 'Helicopter' was the Teen Choice Summer Single!" Chuck's eyes widened to saucers as he accepted the surfboard from Kevin.

"Oh, my God," Chuck breathed. "Uh, this is amazing! Thank you so much to everyone who had a hand in my career, including my sister, Ellie, her boyfriend, Devon, my best friend and manager, Morgan, everyone at the record label, and most especially, to you guys, the fans. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for your never ending support and I love you all. This award is for you guys!" Chuck lifted the award over his head and the crowd cheered louder. Sarah smiled as Chuck walked off the stage with the three brothers and Miley Cyrus retook the stage to announce the next presenters.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Chuck's heart was pounding in his chest. The adrenaline from performing in front of millions of people across the country was racing through his veins. It was the first time he had ever done something like that. Somehow, however, he had managed to find his center amongst the chaos and moved off the stage, a move he'd always wanted to do because he always found it so impersonal to have a gate and a guard separating him and his fans when he promised a family differ, where he had kissed Demi Lovato's hand. Although she was about ten years younger than he was, he had massive respect for her vocal range and power. He then managed to gather up even more courage and practically openly courted Sarah for the entirety of the second chorus. Chuck was backstage now with the three Jonas Brothers, his eyes having yet to leave his first award. "Chuck," Nick said as soon as they made it to the back. "That was a great performance!"

"Thanks, Nick," Chuck said high-fiving the youngest brother. "Although, it wouldn't have been possible without you guys helping me write the actual song."

"Yo, man," Kevin said. "It's no problem. Anytime you need us, you know where to reach us."

"Thanks, dude," Chuck replied, clapping him on the back. Chuck set his surfboard off to the side so that he could come by and pick it up later.

"Hey, by the way," Joe said, walking up to him again, his brothers following. "What was that whole thing with a certain Ms. Sarah Walker?"

"W-What?" Chuck said shooting around. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what we're talking about, bro," Kevin said. "You practically had sex with her in your mind!" The curly haired eldest brother tapped his temple as though to prove his point. Chuck's eyes widened.

"Is that what that looked like?" he asked, his heart rate speeding up to match the speed of a chipmunk hopped up on energy drinks.

"Just a little bit," Nick answered, placing his index finger and thumb close together, much like he had done earlier that night. "So, what? You like her?"

"What are we, in high school?"

"Actually, I am," Nick smirked.

Chuck sighed. "I mean, yeah, I like her. She's been my celebrity crush ever since I started puberty and I had the opportunity to sing to her so I took it." The three brothers all smirked knowingly and it kind of freaked Chuck out just a bit. "Right, well, I'm gonna go back to my seat now." He walked away and out through the side door where he changed back into his suit and returned to his seat by Sarah.

Once he sat down, Sarah leaned over to him. "That was a great performance," she said into his ear. Maybe Chuck was losing his mind and the Brothers' words were getting to him, but he could've sworn that there was a hint of sultry in her voice. Automatically, his palms began to feel moist and he subtly wiped them onto his pants.

"Uh, thanks," he stuttered. Thankfully, he was saved from having to say more when the lights focused on center stage where Rachel Bilson and Chace Crawford stood on the stage.

"Well, now we have an amazing category filled with hot action stars who are both bodacious and dangerous," Chace Crawford said.

Rachel cleared her throat. "Uh, Chace," she said. "I'm an action star."

"My point exactly." Sporadic chuckles echoed throughout the audience.

"Moving on," Rachel continued, somewhat awkwardly. "The nominees for this category are all extremely athletic and beautiful and have shown the world just what girls are capable of. So, the nominees for Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure are..." The big screen behind them changed graphics and the nomination sequence played.

"Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure," a voice said. "Abigail Breslin, _Nim's Island_; Christina Ricci, _Speed Racer_; Diane Kruger, _National Treasure_; Gwyneth Paltrow, _Iron Man_; Sarah Walker, _The Lethal Weapon_." The TCA logo reappeared and Rachel and Chase retook the audience's attention, an ice bucket with a single bottle now on their podium.

"And your Choice Movie Actress for Action Adventure is... Sarah Walker!" The spotlight shown on the blonde seated next to Chuck and she smiled, standing. She made her way up to the stage to accept her award. She was so elegant as she walked up and accepted Chace Crawford's hand as she ascended the steps toward the stage. When she got to the podium, they gave her the surfboard and she leant over slightly to speak into the microphone.

"This," she began, gesturing to the award. "This is an honor. Sure, I've won an Oscar but these awards, the ones where the fans vote for the winners, these are the ones that mean the most to me because it reminds me everyday why I love what I do. Your constant support in everything that I do is better than any other award out there. So, thank you! And thank you to the amazing stunt coordinators and directors that make me look good even though I feel like an oversized idiot when filming." The audience chuckled. "I love you all so much!" Sarah straightened her back again and walked with the two presenters backstage. Chuck was so happy for Sarah as she really was a great actress that truly deserved the award. Like Sarah had said, a Teen Choice Award is no Oscar but to have teens all over the country vote you as their favorite, is an honor all in itself.

After them, another award was presented and then the show cut to another break. Chuck was in the middle of talking to Jason Derulo, who was seated behind him, when Sarah returned. The lanky artist ended his conversation just as the lights dimmed again and Miley Cyrus took the stage. Chuck leaned over to Sarah and whispered a congratulations in her ear. He knew that the surfboards were inscribed with all of the categories that the person won so he asked if she won anything else.

"It turns out," she said leaning into him. "I also won Female Hottie."

"I knew it," Chuck blurted before he could stop himself. He turned red at his own bluntness and missed the way that Sarah's jaw dropped in amusement at the unexpected flattering comment.

Eventually, the show ended and a text was going around spreading the details of the after party to be held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Chuck and Sarah, along with the other winners of the night, made their way backstage to retrieve their surfboards. "So, Chuck," Sarah said as they walked out to the lot where their cars were waiting. "Are you going to the after party?"

Chuck shook his head. "Nah," he said. "Too much paparazzi for my taste and I have to be in the studio first thing tomorrow morning."

"Really? For what?"

"Meetings, mostly," he replied. "About my album's release and the prospect of a possible tour."

"Sounds fun," Sarah smirked, obviously sarcastic, but with an undertone of serious. "So, I take it you're going to be busy all day?"

"Actually, I should be free by lunch time," he said. "So, if you're not too busy being an award winning actress, I'd like to take you." He paused for a minute before adding, "to lunch, that is." Chuck wanted to slam his head into the wall. He would never act normal around this woman. Luckily, she just smiled and adjusted her grip on her giant award.

"I'd like that," she said. "You can pick me up at my apartment. Noon?"

Chuck raised an eyebrow. "Apartment? I thought you owned a fancy house in Beverly Hills."

"It's Hollywood Hills," Sarah corrected. "And I only really use it as a getaway when I want to escape the public eye. Any other time, I stay in an apartment at Maison23." Chuck nodded in understanding.

"Well, I live in an apartment across the courtyard from my sister and her boyfriend in Burbank so... Not as fabulous." Out of the corner of his eye, Chuck noticed a paparazzi hidden behind a few cars a little ways down, no doubt trying to get good pictures of the two of them together.

"I'm sure it's fine," Sarah smiled reassuringly. "Besides, if I had anyone to care for me beyond my career, I'd love to have them close by."

Ignoring every warning that his mind was telling him, and arguing with himself that it was for the sake of the paparazzi in the bushes, Chuck moved a lock of her blonde hair, that had come loose from her bun, behind her ear and said, "you do." He smiled at her lightly as a black Suburban drove up to them and a large man, who Chuck recognized as John Casey, Sarah's bodyguard, exited from the passenger's side, took her surfboard and stowed it in the trunk, and opened the door to the back seat for her. Sarah moved towards it and set her hand on the side of the vehicle before turning back to her soon-to-be fake boyfriend.

"I'll text you the address to my apartment later on tonight, 'kay?" Chuck nodded. Sarah smiled once more before climbing into the SUV. John Casey closed the door behind her and got back in his seat. Once his door closed, the black SUV drove off, leaving Chuck alone in the parking lot, waiting for his own ride to show up, which, thankfully, didn't take very long.

* * *

And Done! Hope that chapter was long enough for you guys! What did you think?

Also, side note, I _did_ write the song. I don't really like it too much when people take other artists' songs and make it the characters because its just like, "what happened to the original artist? Did they disappear or...?" I am a musician and a singer so I said, "why not write the songs for this story?" So... Yeah... All the lyrics from Chuck's songs are mine. You'll have to come up with your own melody if you want to sing it out loud to yourself.

Well, see you in two weeks!

Don't forget to Review, Favorite, and Follow!

Remember,

Fluffy Pikachu Loves You!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! It's been too long! Lol! You wouldn't believe how busy I've been these past two weeks. Thank god for buffer chapters... Although those are dwindling so I getter get back to writing... LOL! Anyways...

**Guest (Guest):** Thanks! Graduation was cool. We have a small class so it didn't take long. :)

**ersk4:** New chapter! As you wish! And yes, I did write the song. :D

**Grayson (Guest):** Thanks! I'm trying to make sure that there's a good even balance between description and action.

**Molotov:** I am 18 but I included the Jonas Brothers because of how huge they were that year. Of course I'm a fan but I didn't actually think of me using them because of my age. *shrugs* on well... They're also pretty cool dudes. :) I did write the song. I'm a musician and a singer so I thought, why not use those talents too? Haha!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Chuck as Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are the gods of their creation and Warner Brothers hasn't put up the brand for sale.

* * *

Chuck woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. He was genuinely excited for all that the day entold. He would spend all morning discussing possible tours and then all afternoon with Sarah. Sure it would be for the benefit of their careers but time with Sarah Walker was time with Sarah Walker and Chuck was not one to complain. "Chuck! Dude!" Morgan, his best friend, manager, and roommate, opened his door and walked in, already fully dressed, which was a first since Chuck was usually the one who had to wake _him_ up.

"What's up, Buddy?" Chuck asked sitting up.

"Ellie invited us over for breakfast before we head off to the meeting. She says she has questions for you?" Morgan shrugged and headed toward the window that faced the courtyard. Before, when Chuck had lived with Ellie and Awesome, Morgan had used that window as his primary entryway into the apartment and it was dubbed the 'Morgan Door.' Then, the apartment across the courtyard opened up, Ellie and Awesome moved out, and Morgan took their old room. He climbed through and scuttled all the way across the courtyard. Chuck laughed softly to himself and got ready, pulling on a plain maroon T-shirt, blue jeans, and his signature black Chuck Taylors. After locking the apartment door, he crossed the courtyard and turned the doorknob to enter his sister's apartment.

"Chuck!" Ellie Bartowski exclaimed upon seeing her brother, rushing up to hug him as though they hadn't seen each other in years, when in reality, it had only been a day.

"Hey, Ellie, Awesome," he greeted, acknowledging the tall blonde male wearing biker shorts and a workout tee.

"I told you to stop calling him that!" Ellie chastised into his ear.

"And _I_ told _you_ no promises," Chuck answered back pulling away from his sister's embrace.

Awesome, also known as Captain Awesome, also known as Devon Woodcomb, Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Westside Medical Hospital, was Ellie's long time boyfriend. They met on their first day of medical school and have practically been inseparable since. And, despite Ellie's protests, the Captain himself seemed unaffected by the nickname that Chuck and Morgan had given him after the first time they met. The nickname hit so close to home that even Ellie, although she was the only one who opposed it, wasn't strict about them calling not him that.

The four of them gathered around the breakfast table and began to get their own portions of food from the main plates set in the center of the table buffet style. "So, what's with the special breakfast?" Chuck asked, taking a bite of his eggs.

"We need to celebrate! You won a Teen Choice Award last night! It's your first award ever in the music industry!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Come on, Ellie," Chuck waved her off. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes, it _is,_ Chuck."

"And, I couldn't help but notice who you were sitting next to all night," Devon added. "Does a certain 'Sarah Walker' ring any bells? Way to go, bro." Chuck turned red slightly.

"Okay, first, nothing happened between us. Second, there's assigned seating and the producers of the show thought that putting us next to each other wouldn't be a big deal."

"Chuck! It is a big deal!" Ellie argued. "You've had a crush on her since you were in middle school!"

"Can we just let it go?" Chuck asked, growing increasingly red. Ellie stared at him as though she were trying to examine his brain the way she did MRIs. Thankfully, just before he'd cracked, she sat back and huffed out an annoyed breath.

"Fine," Ellie relented. Chuck sighed in relief as they continued to eat in amiable silence. He, however, wasn't saved for long because the television in the living room switched programs and E! News popped up on the screen.

"Hey guys! It's Giuliana Rancic here, reporting on the hottest stars in Hollywood. Last night, a certain hottie wow'd the Teen Choice Awards with a stunning performance of his first single, 'Helicopter,' and took home the coveted Teen Choice Surfboard, with an award for the Choice Summer Single. That's right folks, Charles Carmichael took home the Teen Choice Gold! But that's not all he took home. The up and coming singer may just have taken home the heart of one Sarah Walker." An image of the two of them talking in the lobby of the Gibson Amphitheatre. "The two twenty-five year old stars were caught talking before the show began just prior to Mr. Carmichael leading the blonde actress to their seats. The potential couple definitely hit it off as all throughout the program, they were caught multiple times whispering and laughing to each and during his performance, the ever-so-smooth Charles Carmichael definitely made the Oscar-winner swoon, along with ten million other teenage girls." A photoset of Chuck singing to Sarah, twirling her, and kissing her knuckles. showed up on the screen. "And, to top it all off, the two stars were caught outside of the Gibson Amphitheater after the show." A picture of the two of them waiting for their rides with their awards was displayed on the screen. "Hmm? Who knows? Could there be a possible 'Charah' romance brewing? Stay tuned to find out. Up next…"

Chuck's eyes widened at the screen. Apparently news traveled fast. Their 'relationship' blossomed with tons of support from fans all over the world. Heck, they hadn't even gone on a date and they already had a celebrity couple name. He turned back to face the people around the table. Morgan was on his phone, probably texting Beckman and Graham about the immediate success of their plot. Devon was still eating his breakfast, nodding knowingly and approvingly at Chuck. Ellie was frozen to her seat, staring at Chuck with wide eyes. "I thought you said nothing happened," she said, snapping out of her reverie.

"Because nothing happened," Chuck argued. "We just talked about random stuff and I may or may not have asked her out to lunch today." If possible, Ellie's eyes widened even more. He could have sworn that if she had tilted her head forward just slightly, her eyeballs would fall right out of their sockets. Luckily for him, that didn't happen. Unluckily, her eyes drifted to his outfit.

"You're taking her out to lunch and you're dressed like that?" she asked, going into protective, I-raised-you-and-you-should-know-better-than-to-dress-that-casually-on-a-date, older sister mode.

"What?" Chuck looked down at his attire and deemed it worthy for a casual day out. "What I'm wearing is fine. We're not going anywhere fancy."

"It doesn't matter! She's Sarah Walker and you're 'Charles Carmichael,'" Ellie protested. "The paparazzi are bound to find you at some point." Chuck rolled his eyes at his sister, not in annoyance, but in amusement at her concern.

"Sis," he placated. "I'm pretty sure that the paparazzi would care more about the fact that we're together than our outfits. Besides, wardrobe is for the fashion police and I'm sure Sarah, whether she wears a designer dress, or jeans and a T-shirt, would look too great for them to hound on her.

"Where are you taking her?" Ellie asked, dropping the subject.

"I don't know. Maybe California Pizza Kitchen or El Compadre. You know, that Mexican restaurant on Sunset Boulevard?" Chuck shrugged. Devon nodded in approval.

"Those are good spots, bro. Not too expensive but not too cheap. I say, go CPK for lunch and if things go well, El Compadre for dinner," Devon suggested. Chuck nodded in agreement.

"Chuck, buddy, we gotta go or we're gonna be late for the meetings," Morgan interrupted. Chuck stood up with his best friend and said bye to his sister and Devon.

"Chuck," Ellie called out before he left. "I want details. Later. Come by the apartment."

"Fine," Chuck agreed, closing the door behind him.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Sarah woke the next morning in her apartment and smiled to herself. It was shocking actually. On a normal day, she would've pulled the duvet over her head and buried herself deeper into her sheets, but there was something in her that made her excited. Then, she remembered her lunch date with Chuck. She wasn't sure what was making her so excited. This 'date' was just a way to flaunt their fake relationship around. She checked the time. It was only nine in the morning so she had plenty of time before Chuck arrived at her door. Last night, when she had texted him her address, he responded back to her saying that she should dress casually.

After brushing her teeth and showering, Sarah walked into her closet and stood there for quite some time, deciding on what she should wear. Eventually, she picked out a plain white blouse, a tan leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and short, dark brown, heeled boots. Laying her outfit on her bed, she went over to the vanity and began to fix her hair, drying it, and straightening her curls just enough so that her hair was a tamed wavy. She checked her clock and saw that it was already almost eleven. Sarah opened her make-up bag and began to apply light foundation and a small amount of blush. She dabbed on a thin amount of eyeliner and curled her eyelashes, otherwise leaving them untouched. She wanted to be as natural as she could in the face of the paparazzi as she knew they would be making an appearance at one point (or multiple points) in the day. She wasn't sure if Chuck saw them but Sarah definitely noticed the presence of the paparazzi during their conversation in the parking lot after the Teen Choice Awards. She hadn't seen the news yet, but she was sure that she and him were the headliners of the celebrity gossip section.

As she put the final touches on her makeup, her phone rang. Checking her caller ID, she saw that it was her manager, Graham. "Hello?"

"Good job last night," he said simply, skipping pleasantries.

"What?"

"E! News covered your first meet at the Teen Choice Awards and already, the fans have created a couple name for you." Sarah was right. They did get friendly last night. Replaying the events, Sarah realized that she wasn't even thinking about having to play sweet when he was around. She genuinely enjoyed his company. _That could be messy,_ she thought to herself. "Just make sure that the lines don't get blurred," Graham continued as though he'd read her mind.

"He's actually picking me up for lunch in a little bit."

"Good. make sure you two get a window seat at whatever restaurant he takes you to so that people can get a good view. Also, make it clear to him that this is purely business."

"Fine." With that, she hung up the phone and tossed it on her bed.

Once Sarah had slipped her shoes on and grabbed a small cross body bag to hold her purse and wallet, the doorbell rang. Sarah looked at the clock. Twelve noon. Right on time. _He's one of those people,_ she mused silently. Smiling to herself, Sarah walked up to the green door and opened it, revealing the curly haired musician that had invaded her every thought since their first meeting. "Hey," she greeted slightly enthusiastic, Graham's words echoing through her mind.

"Hey! Ready to go?" Sarah smiled and nodded, looping her arm in his and allowing him to lead her out their building and into his Toyota Matrix. Once they were settled and cruising along North Pass Avenue, Sarah turned to Chuck.

"So… Toyota huh?" she asked cheekily.

"Hey! Don't peg my car so low. It happens to be an extremely safe and practical car." Chuck laughed. "I used to drive one when I worked for the Burbank Buy More, the one over on Burbank Boulevard, as the Nerd Herd supervisor. I did go on off-site installs every now and then."

"Really? You worked as a Nerd Herder at a Buy More?"

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, for the better part of five years."

"Wow," Sarah said. "Talented, cute, and smart."

"Yeah, well…" Chuck turned onto North San Fernando Boulevard and pulled into the California Pizza Kitchen's parking lot. "I hope you don't mind. I didn't know what kind food you liked so I decided to play it safe." He shot her a sweet smile that made Sarah's stomach roll.

"It's fine," she assured. "I love this place." Chuck parked the car and exited quickly, rushing around the front to open the door for Sarah. Stepping out, Sarah smiled at her companion. They walked together to the front door and he opened it again for her. When they reached the hostess booth, Chuck requested a table for two. "Is it at all possible to sit by the window?" Sarah added, remembering Graham's words.

"Of course," the hostess smiled. She looked down at the floor map of the restaurant on the podium and grabbed two menus from the bin behind her. "Follow me." The hostess turned and walked away, heading toward a table for two by the front of the restaurant so that they had a good view of the shops and the people on North San Fernando. Chuck and Sarah followed her and sat down across from each other and ordered their drinks. Chuck ordered coke while Sarah asked for a water. The hostess smiled and left, leaving the two celebrities alone.

"So, Chuck, tell me more about your Buy More days," Sarah said, resting her arms on the table. "Most stars do the whole waitressing thing before they get their big break so, this should be interesting."

"Uh… There's not much to tell," Chuck laughed. "I, uh, I went to Stanford and just before I graduated, my roommate and, at the time, best friend tipped off my professor, saying that I had stolen the answer key to the mid-term and was selling it to students." Chuck's eyes had a faraway look as he relived his past. "I was expelled, only twelve credits short, and it also turned out that my roommate had also stolen my girlfriend so…" Chuck shrugged. "I returned to Burbank, moved in with my sister, and took up a job at the local Buy More."

Sarah suddenly felt bad for the guy. Betrayed by his best friend and girlfriend. It wasn't an easy thing to go through and even though he had to go through it, he managed to keep a sanguine attitude about everything. Although, there was one question burning through her mind. "Did you steal the answers?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"I thought it was implied that I was a nice guy," he laughed.

"Well, we've all made mistakes."

"And I've made plenty, but that wasn't one of them." Sarah, finding herself losing her professionalism, decided to change topics.

"So, from a Buy More to a recording studio, huh? Where was the transition?" she asked, hoping that this story was a little more happy.

"Uh… that's actually a funny story," Chuck chuckled. "There were two other employees, Jeff and Lester, that put together this cover band named 'Jeffster!' and they loved to perform at the store. They're both really… interesting characters. Anyway, one of them invited a representative from Castle Recordings to check them out. That day, I was working in the cage and I was singing to myself while I was fixing some old computers. Morgan heard me, stole the representative from the audience and brought him to the cage where they listened in on me singing whatever came on my phone. Next thing I know, I have a record deal and Morgan is my manager." Sarah laughed.

"That is pretty funny."

"Well, it's true!" Sarah smiled.

"You seem like a fun guy, Chuck."

"Well, I am,I hope you don't mind my cracking jokes all the time," he chuckled.

"No! Crack as many jokes as you want. It's actually good, because I am not funny." Sarah felt herself slowly get serious, but not by much.

"What? I find that hard to believe." Chuck's laughing slowly came to an end as he sobered up.

"Oh, don't believe what you see on screen. That is the work of the directors and the writers."

"Well, at least you're not a cannibal." Sarah knew that he wasn't insulting her when he said that because of the boyish smile that played on his lips and she laughed again.

"Uh, no, not a cannibal but I did just come out of a long relationship so I may come with some baggage."

"Well, I could be your very own baggage handler." Sarah's jaw dropped and she felt her cheeks heat up. Chuck's eyebrows furrowed as he realized what he'd just said. He cleared his throat.

"So, uh, so the, uh, the guy, I-I didn't know you were dating."

"Uh, yeah, I, um, I don't really like to publicize my private life." Chuck nodded in understanding. "But, here we are, starting a fake relationship for the whole world to see." She could see the way the light in Chuck's eyes seemed to dim slightly in disappointment and it made her heart twist. She bit her lip. "You do understand the whole point of this right? We're just getting our names on the good side of the media. Nothing real can happen between us." Chuck frowned.

"Well, why not?" he blurted again, stunning both of them. Sarah was the first to recover, Graham's earlier warnings seeping into her thoughts.

"Because, Chuck, we'd have to break up eventually and there's a reason why Hollywood romances don't work. Our careers make for open relationships because the jobs that we do take away tons of time together and that time apart is spent with other people, and with actors, it usually consists of kissing and other suggestive acts," she explained in the best way. "To get real feelings involved in our little con would make it messy and complicated."

Before she could continue, their waitress came by. "Are you guys ready to order?" Sarah opened her mouth to order her usual, Crispy Mac 'N' Cheese and a California Veggie pizza, but Chuck beat her to it.

"For appetizer, can we get an order of the Artichoke Dip and the Crispy Mac 'N' Cheese. And for our main course, we'll take the California Veggie and the BBQ Chicken." He handed her his menu and Sarah lifted hers for the waitress to take, not taking her eyes off of the man sitting in front of her. The waitress nodded, jotted down their orders, took the menus, and left them alone again.

"How did you know what I was going to order?" she asked. Chuck gave her a sad smile and shrugged.

"Well, I'm not a total incompetent fake boyfriend." She stared at him dubiously. "You were my celebrity crush for the better part of my life. I've watched interviews and read those questionnaire things in the magazines."

"I'm sorry, Chuck," she said after a while. "We could be friends though."

"I'd like that."

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

After lunch Sarah asked to be taken down memory lane and eventually, Chuck acquiesced. He drove them all the way to Burbank Boulevard and turned into the shopping complex that held the Buy More he had worked at not too long ago. He parked the car and got out, opening the door for Sarah. They walked side-by-side to the front and entered the verdant hued store. Immediately, the two of them were met with the sight of customers perusing through the aisles, and the Nerd Herd associates and the sales associates, or "green shirts," playing "Fingers of Fury" by the wall of flat screen TVs. Chuck rolled his eyes._ A typical day at the Buy More._

"What are they doing?" Sarah asked, pointing to the loud group of workers who were cheering and making bets.

"That, Sarah, is an intense game of 'Fingers of Fury.' An age long tournament to prove who the biggest nerd is." Sarah stared at him disbelievingly. "Being a nerd at the Buy More is the norm. Everyone who works here is extremely well versed in the subject of pop culture." Sarah nodded slowly.

"How do you play?" she asked. It was Chuck's turn to to shoot her a disbelieving look. "What? It looks like they're having fun. I want to know."

"Two players have remotes that control half of the wall and they have to name as many TV Shows as they can within a minute," Chuck explained, smiling, remembering the day he was named the champion after beating Morgan, who held the title for three years. "It looks like they're having a tournament so we should be fairly unbothered by them for quite some time." Sarah nodded. "Shall we begin the tour?" he asked, mocking an old Englishman's accent. She nodded again.

They walked down the main walkway to the Nerd Herd desk and Chuck leaned on the counter. "If you were to walk through that door and needed help with electronics, I would be standing right behind this desk, ready to help." Just then, a man walked up to them with his daughter who was dressed in a leotard and tutu.

"Excuse me," he said. "I need help." Chuck spun around in surprise. _What a coincidence._

"Um, I'm sorry, sir," he said. "I don't work here." He was about to apologize again when he saw the distressed look on the man's face. He looked toward the Buy More employees and saw that they weren't paying any attention and even if they were, they probably wouldn't care. "But, um, I used to. Maybe I could take a look? What seems to be the problem?" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sarah's eyebrows raise. The man pulled out a digital camcorder and held it out.

"I swear I shot the entire recital but now it won't play back. I don't know what I did wrong," he explained.

"Oh, well," Chuck said, taking the camera from the man. "Let's just take a look here." He opened up the camera where the tape was supposed to be kept and found the problem. "Uh, sir, you don't have any tape in here."

"But, I thought it was digital." Chuck's eyes widened and remembered his customer service training from years ago.

"Right," he said slowly. "But you still need digital tape."

"Oh, no. Her mother is going to kill me." Chuck snuck a glance at the little girl in the leotard and saw that she was pretty forlorn about the whole situation, too.

"Uhh…" Chuck looked around for bit, eyeing the Buy Morians at the wall. "One second." He nodded briefly and went over to his former co-workers. "Guys," he said walking up to them. "Guys." He stood in front of them and took the remotes out of Jeff and Lester's hands.

"What the-?" Lester said looking up. "Oh! Charles! It's nice to see you!"

"Yeah, you too Lester." He crossed his arms over his chest, the remotes still in his hands. "What are you guys doing? There are customers in the store."

"Why do you care?" Jeff asked. "It's not like you work here anymore."

"No, I don't. But you do. And, I do need to borrow the wall."

"For what?" Anna Wu, a petite Asian, asked.

"A man didn't fill his camera with digital tape and needs the footage of his daughter's ballet recital." The three Nerd Herd associates turned to face the desk where they saw the man, his daughter, and Sarah, all standing there, waiting.

"Woah…" Lester breathed. "Who is that blonde goddess?" Chuck snapped his fingers in front of Lester's face, bringing his attention back to their conversation.

"Lester. Focus." The last thing he needed was Lester or, God forbid, Jeff hitting on Sarah and making it so awkward for the both of them.

"Right. Of-Of course you can have the wall, Charles."

"Cool, thanks. Round up the Nerds." Chuck clapped Lester on the shoulder and made his way back to the desk. "We'll be ready in a moment sir. If you and your daughter will head over to the wall of flat screens, the Nerd Herd will be more than happy to resolve your issue," he said to the man when he walked up.

"Thank you so much," the father said, taking his daughter's hand and guiding her to the wall of TVs.

Chuck was about to follow when he turned back to face Sarah. "You coming?"

"What?" she asked.

"I'm asking you if you want to watch a ballet show with me."

Sarah's eyebrow raised questioningly but she responded, "Sure."

"Well, then, come on." He held his hand out for her to take and when she did, he could help but notice the tingling feeling he got whenever he made contact with her. Smiling, he led her over to the wall. They stood off to the side, still holding hands, when Chuck noticed the little girl's nervous face. "One second," he told Sarah and went up to the girl. He kneeled down next to her so that they were eye to eye. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I usually stand in the back row," she said shyly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm too tall. I block the other ballerinas."

"Can I tell you a secret? But, you can't tell the other girls." The girl nodded. Chuck smiled. "Real ballerinas _are_ tall." The girl smiled and in response, Chuck smiled wider.

"Charles!" Lester called. "We're ready." Chuck nodded to him and turned back to the girl.

"Knock 'em dead." Winking at her, he stood up and walked back to stand next to Sarah and the two of them watched the ballerina perform her routine.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Sarah didn't think anyone could be so sweet. Chuck didn't even work at the Buy More anymore but the moment the father had come up to him, he put on his best smile and helped him out. Sarah watched as Chuck went up to the Buy More workers and interrupted their game. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew that he was telling them to do their jobs. All of the workers must've respected him because the employees in the green shirts scattered to go help customers around the store and all the Nerds straightened their backs and stood at attention for their former supervisor. When Chuck returned and assured the father that they were going to fix the problem, Sarah was shocked at how willing the employees had been to help out someone, simply because Chuck asked them to.

"You coming?" he asked her. Sarah snapped out of her thoughts and sputtered for a moment.

"What?"

"I'm asking you if you want to watch a ballet show with me."

Sarah raised an eyebrow at his statement but agreed anyway. "Sure."

"Well, then, come on." Chuck held his hand out for her to take and she took it, intertwining her fingers with his, unable to ignore the tingling warmth she felt from his hand. The stood off to the side to watch the performance and Sarah noticed the nervous look on the little girl's face. She knew what anxiety looked like since she had seen that look on her own face many times before the many school plays in which she starred as the lead role. Apparently, Chuck noticed it too because he turned to face her. "One second," he told her and released her hand. Sarah found herself missing the safe feeling that holding his hand gave. She watched as he sunk down to the little girl's height. The two exchanged a few words, before they both smiled. Sarah had a brief thought of Chuck reassuring his own daughter in the future as she watched with a smile on her face. She quickly dismissed it, however, as their 'relationship' was only temporary and supposed to be professional.

When the dance was over, a small Asian man came up to Chuck. "Chuck Bartowski," he said.

"Hi, Harry," Chuck replied, unenthused. "Sorry about the commotion, you guys should be up and running in five minutes."

The Asian man, Harry, narrowed his eyes. "Do you know what five minutes means in Buy More dollars?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"I didn't know the Buy More had its own currency," Chuck quipped. Sarah had to bite back a smile.

Harry seethed with rage as his face began to turn red. "You don't work here anymore, Chuck! And, I'm assistant manager now. Your days of controlling the Herd are over. Deal with it." He gave Chuck a once over and pushed passed him, ramming into Chuck's arm with his shoulder. Chuck simply took it and let the smaller man walk away. Sarah gaped at the amount of disrespect that this Harry guy gave Chuck. It was appalling.

"Chuck!" she exclaimed. "How can you just take that?" Chuck turned to her.

"What? Tang? That's not a big deal. He's been a jerk since I started working here," he shrugged.

"Well, it's rude to treat other people like that," Sarah countered.

"Sarah, calm down," Chuck placated. "It really is not that big of a deal. Harry just wants to make sure the store runs efficiently and my extemporaneous production held that back. He's just doing his job."

"Chuck," Sarah sighed. "You look for the good in people because you're a good person, but the truth of the matter is that Harry is treating you like his bitch and you're letting him." She eyed the tiny man as he picked lint off of his monogrammed polo. "You might let him treat you like that but I sure won't." It wasn't something she normally did, telling people who didn't work for her off, but there was something about this man that made her tick. She stuffed her bag into Chucks arms and strutted all the way to the assistant manager of the Buy More. "Excuse me," she said. The bald Asian looked up.

"How can I help you-" Harry's eyes bugged out of his head as he recognized who he was standing in front of. "Ms. Walker!" he exclaimed. "Welcome to the Burbank Buy More! How can I be of assistance?"

Sarah smirked mentally. _Piece of cake._

"Hi, yes, I understand that you're Harry Tang? The assistant manager?" she asked. He stood up tall and puffed out his chest.

"That's me."

"Right, well, I couldn't help but notice the way you put that man over there in his place for causing a scene in the store," she continued on.

Harry stammered. "O-Of course! I-I take my job very seriously."

"Yeah? Well, don't do it again," Sarah went on, getting very serious, very fast. "What Chuck did over there was very sweet and he did more to help that customer than any of your employees. So, you better back off. Do you understand?" Harry nodded, terrified. She had gotten close to his face at that point and Chuck must've seen what was happening because he materialized behind her and pulled her toward him.

"Okay, Sarah," he said, taking her hand. "I think it's time to go."

* * *

Yay! Another chapter. Yeah... This one was longer. I hope you liked it. Lol

If you did, leave a review and tell me what you liked about it.

If you didn't, leave a review and tell me what I should improve on! :)

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Remember,

Fluffy Pikachu Loves You!


	5. Chapter 5

Wassup! So... I'm actually on vacation right now in Memphis... It's a good thing I use google drive to hold my stories so I can just upload the chapter from my ipad... Like I am... But until I get to a computer, the formatting is a little wonky... But I'll fix that as soon as I can. Anyways, here's the continuation of Chuck and Sarah's "date," but first, your reviews!

**wassupchuck:** Yeah... I've seen Chuck so many times that I can pull up snippets of Charah moments off the top of my head from any season so... Might as well use it. Plus this is an AU so while its a differuniverse reverse, there has to be some kind of parallel. ;)

**Chuckfanster:** Yeah... That was the closest I could get to making it like the show. The whole "career holds them back" thing so... You'll see how Sarah reacts differently but similarly at the same time. :)

**Arya's prayers:** Yeah... There are so many parallels to being a spy and an actress that it's kind of shocking that there aren't more of these stories in the archive. I get to mix elements of the show to real life and I while it's hard, it's so much fun! As for the song, it did take some work as will all future songs since I will be writing the rest of them as well.

**Graydon (Guest):** There's so many ways we can go with this story that you never what I'll do next! LOL!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Chuck as Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are the gods of their creation and Warner Brothers hasn't put up the brand for sale.

* * *

"Maybe a trip down memory lane wasn't the best thing to do," Chuck said as he drove down Burbank Boulevard away from the Buy More. Sarah sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed over her chest, staring out the window. "Seriously, Sarah. It's not a big deal. It would be a big deal if Harry _didn't_ find some way to berate me." Out of the corner of his eye, Chuck saw the actress roll her eyes and turn to look at him.

"Chuck, you need to stand up for yourself, especially to jerks like him. You're better than that. I still don't know you that well but watching you with that man and his daughter told me that you're the kind of guy that puts others before himself and there's not that many people in the world like that anymore. You're a good guy, Chuck, but you need to know when to put your foot down so you don't get trampled on," Sarah said. Chuck had to fight to keep his eyes on the road. When Sarah turned back to look out the window, Chuck snuck a side-glance at her and merged onto the 405 toward downtown Los Angeles. Sarah, noticing where they were going, turned to face him again, this time, question in her eyes.

"While you were cracking down on Harry, I got a text from Morgan saying that they needed me in the studio for a little bit to go over a track for my next album," Chuck explained.

"Next album?" Sarah asked, confused. "You haven't even released your first album yet."

"I know, but Morgan says it's best for me to get a head start so that when I'm on tour, the pressure to start a new album won't get to me." Chuck glanced at Sarah before turning back to face the road. "I understand if you don't want to do this. I can call Morgan and tell him to reschedule if you want."

"No," Sarah said. "It's fine. I don't mind. Really. Actually, I'd like to see what it is you musicians do."

"You make it sound like we're an entirely different species," Chuck smirked at her jokingly.

"You're not?" Sarah answered back with a smirk of her own. Chuck laughed.

"Well played, Ms. Walker. Well played." Chuck turned onto Sunset Boulevard and pulled into a parking garage. Finding a spot on the second floor. "We're gonna have to walk a block to get there, if you don't mind. This is the closest free parking to the studio and since I have yet to make any serious money, I'm still considered a 'struggling artist' so..." He rambled on.

"It's no problem, Chuck. Really," Sarah assured, shooting him a smile that told him she really was okay with walking. "I like to 'live manually,' as people call it. You know, take the stairs, walk the extra few steps, actually whisk instead of using an electric mixer. Things like that." They exited the car, Chuck opening Sarah's door, and made their way down to the elevator. As they waited for the descent, Chuck shot furtive glances at his blonde companion. Never in a million years would he have thought that he would be spending the day with Sarah Walker. Yet, here he was, walking down the sidewalk of the iconic Sunset Boulevard with the Oscar-winning actress at his side. They both had sunglasses on and because most of the people in Los Angeles was tall with either blonde or brown hair, they seemed to blend right in, no one really bothering them as they walked the block.

"So, tell me more about this 'manual living' thing," Chuck said, striking up a conversation. Sarah tilted her head toward him and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"I don't know..." Chuck thought for a moment. "I guess... why?"

"That's all?" Sarah laughed. "That's an easy answer. I do it because with my hectic schedule, I have barely anytime to go to the gym so I get my daily workouts through manual living." Sarah looked at him, though he couldn't see her eyes because they were hidden behind her aviators. "Any more pressing questions?"

"Mmmm... Not at the moment, no." They stopped at the intersection and waited for the signal to walk. As they stood side by side, a shout called their attention. They looked over and saw a small group of about five photographers point at them and take off with a sprint. Chuck bit his lip, hoping that the little white man would appear in the little black box, replacing the orange hand. By some sign of fate, just as the paparazzi had gotten close, the sign changed. Chuck grabbed Sarah's wrist and hauled her across the intersection, double-checking to make sure there was no oncoming traffic. Looking back, the tall musician saw that the photographers were still right behind them. He knew that soon, there would be more of them, wondering what up and coming musical artist Charles Carmichael and A-list actress Sarah Walker were up to on a Tuesday afternoon, just a day after the two of them met. That would definitely get their names out there and the rumors of a possible relationship all over the media reports. Thankfully, just as the paparazzi were catching up, the doors of the studio caught Chuck's eye and he barreled in, Sarah in tow. "Hey Carey!" Chuck greeted, a blur of maroon. "Keep the guys with the cameras out!" They raced past the receptionist and down the hall toward the elevators.

Once the main lobby was out of sight, Chuck stopped and doubled over, catching his breath. When he snuck a glance at Sarah, she wasn't even winded. Maybe he should try the whole 'manual living' thing. "Should I pressed the button?" she asked, amuse written across her features.

"Yeah," Chuck wheezed. He wasn't doubled over anymore but his breath was still ragged. "On a scale of one to ten," he began, his voice regaining composure. "How embarrassing is this right now?" He waved his hand over his body to indicate he meant the fact that he had absolutely no endurance or cardio.

"Honestly?" Sarah asked, her arms crossed over her chest and her sunglasses perched on top of her head.

"Yeah."

"Like an eight." Chuck nodded.

"Okay. I guess I can live with that." Sarah laughed and the elevator ding, signaling its arrival. The two of them piled in.

"I thought musicians had huge lung capacities," Sarah smirked. Chuck pressed the twelfth floor button and turned to face her, pulling the sunglasses off of his face.

"We do. But you have to remember. I'm still an 'up and coming' artist. My lungs are still little babies." Sarah laughed again and leaned back on the rail.

"Well you'll just have to get into shape then. Especially with the prospects of a tour."

"I'm not really the kind of guy to run around a huge stage." Sarah quirked an eyebrow.

"Then what kind of guy are you?" she asked. The images of Chuck's dream stage flooded his mind. It wasn't much. It was a simple set up.

"Oh, you know... Just a small set up. My band behind me, the floor covered in rugs, a stand and a stool for me. A real intimate setting. Just me, the music, and the fans." A small smile played on his lips.

"It must be nice," Sarah said.

"What?"

"The fact that you guys get to go and interact with your fans all over the world. All us actors get are meet and greets, signings, and interviews. You guys get all of that and more."

Chuck, noticing the drop in mood, tried to bring it back up. He wiggled his eyebrows. "Is a certain Oscar-winning actress, dare I say, jealous?" he asked scandalously, leaning in close. Sarah raised an amused eyebrow.

"Of course not! I love my job! I just want more interaction with the fans."

"Well, as a fan," Chuck said. "I am most definitely enjoying this time with you." He shot her a smile and saw that Sarah's face had taken on a nice shade of rose. She opened her mouth to say something but the elevator dinged and the door opened. The two of them shifted their attention and stared at the opening. Chuck recovered first, clearing his throat. "Uh, after you," he said dumbly. Sarah blinked but returned to reality, stepping out of the elevator with Chuck right behind her.

"So," Sarah said as they made their way down the hall. "What _do_ you do in the studio?"

"Well, Ms. Walker. You're about to find out." Coincidently, and luckily on Chuck's part, they stopped just behind the studio door. Chuck set a hand on the hand and twisted, pushing the wooden slab into the room, motioning for Sarah to walk in.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

This day was definitely not what Sarah expected it to be. She'd expected lunch, maybe a stroll down the street or up to the park, and possibly dinner. She was not expecting a Buy More, her threatening the assistant manager of said Buy More, going to see Chuck in the studio, or running from the paparazzi. Actually, deep down, she expected that last thing; it was inevitable. And throughout the entire time, she'd barely thought about the fact that this was all just a play for the media. Soon, her and Chuck would 'break up' and they'd never see each other again, except of course when they go to the same premieres or award shows. She knew that was inevitable as well, and she wasn't sure she could cut all ties from the nerdy musician. Chuck just had a way of getting under people's skins. He settled himself just below the surface and grew on them. Sarah realized early on that Chuck was the kind of person to always want to save everyone, make everyone feel safe, comfortable. In many ways, he was like most of the action heroes she'd played in various movies, just without the cardio or endurance. Thinking of the way he'd doubled over and asked her how embarrassing it was made Sarah suppress a giggle. Said man was currently standing at a complicated looking sound board with another man who was introduced as "InfaBuckets." She'd promptly gave a stare and the producer told her to simply call him "Inf."

_Because, you know,_ Sarah thought. _That made it better._

Now she sat on the sofa in the control room while Chuck spoke in technical terms with the producer. He'd told her that Morgan was on his way and that a friend of his was as well to get a finalized sound for the track, which, afterwards, Sarah realized meant song. After everything on the sound board was arranged, all they had to do was wait for the other to people to join them.

Chuck plopped down on the sofa beside her and Inf had left them alone, going to run some errands and insisting that they call him if they needed anything. "It's no fancy set with huge props or make-up artists waiting in the wings, but it gets the job done and it gets the job done well," Chuck said, throwing an arm behind her. Usually, she would've sat up straighter so that the other person would take the hint that she was uncomfortable but, like she'd said earlier, he had a way of making everyone feel comfortable. So, Sarah found herself chanting. _Keep it professional. Keep it professional. Keep it professional. _She needed to salvage any hopes of a clean break.

"No, it's not," she responded. "But it's seems simple enough for you, even though to me it looks like a bunch of colorful knobs behind a glass window." Chuck laughed at that and it made Sarah's traitorous heart swell. All day he'd been making her laugh and now, she'd finally gotten him back. Chuck: 247; Sarah: 2. She was catching up. "So what exactly does all of those nobs do?"

"I mean, I could go into specifics," Chuck said. "But the simple version is that they make me sound good and not like a dying whale."

"You don't sound like a dying whale."

"I do when those nobs aren't positioned correctly."

"Touché." Chuck raised an eyebrow at her. Just then, the door opened, revealing a familiar looking teenage boy with curly hair and Chuck's bearded manager.

"Morgan!" Chuck greeted hooping up. "Hey, Buddy!" He gave the shorter man a hug and the curly haired teen the hybrid handshake hug. "Nick, bro, where are your brothers?"

"They had something to do," Nick replied. "Morgan called and said you've already got something for your second album?"

"Yeah."

"Man, you haven't even released your first album and you're already writing a second one? Talk about try-hard."

"That's what I said," Sarah smirked, standing up from her seat on the sofa. Both Nick and Morgan's eyes widened when they realized that she was in the room.

"Sarah Walker?" Nick asked, jarring back to life.

"In the flesh." Sarah caught the knowing look that the teen shot Chuck. It kind of said, 'Mhmm... Yeah right. We'll talk about this later.' Sarah didn't know the specifics of what exactly happened between the two but she knew that it obviously had to do with her and she figured that they'd had a discussion about it before.

Sarah never liked being out of the loop so the fact that the two of them had an inside... thing about her, made her uneasy. But, she kept her smile and pretended to not notice anything.

"It's nice to officially meet you," Nick said holding a hand out. Sarah shook it. He'd obviously met plenty of big stars so after the initial shock, Nick reverted back to an easy-going attitude. "So, Sarah, what brings you to this part of town?"

Sarah shrugged. "Oh, you know, I was hanging out with Chuck and he got called in. I wanted to see what goes on in the studio so I tagged along. It's not a big deal." Nick nodded in understanding.

"That's cool. I'm gonna pull up a chair and we can just gather here to finish up this track," Nick said. He moved to grab a chair from the sound board and rolled it over to the sofa and picked a guitar from the wall. Morgan pulled up another chair and rolled it so that it sat close by. Chuck motioned for Sarah to retake her seat and he sat promptly beside her. "Alright, so... Morgan sent me the lyrics you wrote and here's what I have. And it's just the chorus so far so..." Nick started strumming the guitar in a pattern that reminded Sarah of a Jason Mraz song.

"I never thought that a guy like me  
Could ever be with a girl like you  
One who's smart, one who's cool,  
One who's extremely beautiful.  
We've been playing all these games  
It's starting to make me go insane  
But now I'm glad that were finally  
Going on our first date."

"So?" Nick asked when he stopped strumming. "You like?"

"Dude," Chuck responded from beside Sarah. "That was great! I love it! Morgan? Sarah? What did you think?" Morgan answered in a very elaborate approval, giving Sarah time to think.

There was no doubt that she liked the song. It was probably one of the better ones she'd heard from him so far, not that she'd heard many. This one definitely felt much more personal to Chuck. Like he'd given it plenty of thought. Sarah knew that a lot of artists hire writers who produce the songs that they sing so to see Chuck with plenty of control over his music really told her that Chuck was a natural guy through and through. All of his songs came from him and his deepest, most inner thoughts and emotions, and that really left a deep impression on her. As an actress, their emotions had to be controlled to the point where they could portray an emotion that is the complete opposite of how they really felt. Here, in the studio what they feel becomes a form of art. When Sarah realized that they'd been staring at her expectantly, she jolted back to attention and felt her face grow warm. "Uhh..." she said dumbly. "It's great. I love it."

That wasn't exactly how she wanted to say that. But, put on the spot, there wasn't much she could do. They didn't seem to mind as they went into talk about the rest of the song. "So, Chuck," Morgan said. "Do you have any other material written or was the chorus it?"

"So far? It's just the chorus. I don't know, I like to build the song around the chorus first. So, any suggestions would be great with the verses."

"Alright, well, let's do this the way we always do this. Morgan?" Nick said. The bearded manager pulled out his iPhone and turned on the voice memos app, hitting record. Sarah raised an eyebrow and sat back, watching as the boys shot out random lyrics and connecting them together. They didn't completely leave her out though. Chuck turned to her and made sure she was fine multiple times and had even asked for a couple of suggestions. She didn't have many as there wasn't really a poet inside of her tall, fit, frame. Besides, she was perfectly content in watching Chuck's eyes light up like a child on Christmas morning. It allowed her to take a step back from getting to attached to the musician and keep a level head.

Hours passed and the sun was beginning to set. Sarah's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see that Graham had sent her a text that detailed her schedule for tomorrow. _Shit,_ she thought.

"What was that?" Sarah looked up and saw the three boys looking intently at her.

"Uhh... What?" she blinked. _Did she say that out loud?_

"Did something happen?" Chuck asked her, concern showing through his hazel eyes.

"No, no. My manager just texted me my schedule for tomorrow. I've got a five AM call time," she said.

"I can take you home now, if you want."

"No. You're working. I'll leave when you're ready."

"No, I insist. We're pretty much done here anyways. They can just email me the lyrics that we decided to keep," Chuck said, already standing up. Sarah had no choice but to follow.

"Only if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"You didn't even record anything."

"It's a writing session. Nothing has to be recorded just yet," he countered. Knowing she was fighting a losing battle, Sarah decided to just let it go.

"Alright, fine."

Chuck smiled at her and turned to the two other men in the room. "Alright. I guess we're pretty set so me and Sarah are gonna head out."

"No problem, dude," Nick said, standing to clap the taller musician on the shoulder.

"Alright, Buddy," Morgan added, standing as well. "I'll see you back at the apartment."

Chuck and Sarah waved one final time before exiting the studio and making the walk back to his car, thankfully, this time, without the company of the notorious paparazzi. The drive back was silent. Not the awkward, someone-please-say-something-to-ease-the-tension, kind of silence, but a more comfortable, amiable kind. When Chuck pulled up to her apartment building's front entrance, they sat there, idling. Chuck cleared his throat. "So, I guess this is it," he said. "Did you have fun?"

Sarah nodded. "I did, actually." Now, it was getting awkward. She might as well nip it in the bud. "Well, I should go."

"Yeah," Chuck agreed. The blonde actress unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car, shut the door, and proceeded to the main lobby door. Just before she passed the threshold, she turned back and sent Chuck a small smile and wave.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Chuck was on cloud 8. He was so elated that he felt like he was floating but not so much where he felt everything was absolutely perfect. There was plenty of complications with the relationship between him and Sarah. Opening the door to his and Morgan's apartment, he saw that the bearded man had already returned and had time to change into his pajamas. His best friend wasn't alone, however. His sister and Devon were also seated in the living room with E! News on. "What are you doing?" Chuck asked slowly as he gently set his keys down in the ceramic bowl by the door.

"Watching the news," Ellie replied.

"That's not the news."

"Whatever. Sit." Chuck narrowed his eyes at his older sister but followed her order. Just as he sat, Ryan Seacrest appeared on the green with a picture of Chuck and Sarah taken outside of the window of California Pizza Kitchen from earlier that day.

"Well, on to some new info," Seacrest said. "It seems like all the gossip about a certain Mr. Carmichael and Miss Walker seems to be bubbling toward the surface of truth. The potential couple was found having lunch together and subsequently spending the rest of the afternoon in each other's company. Who knows where this will end up? The two stars run in completely different circles and are in different positions on the Hollywood food chain. If this romance is real, is it just a fling or will it evolve to more?" Chuck rolled his eyes. At least the media was buying their little play. They just had to make sure it stayed that way. From the corner of his eye, Chuck could see Morgan grinning so wide it was borderline maniacal. Ellie and Awesome, however, shot him looks of pride and approval.

"Oh my God, Chuck! Can you believe this?" Ellie squealed.

"Uhh..."

"Way to go, Chuckster," Awesome added. "That's awesome."

"Yeah... Well," Chuck dragged. Not wanting to experience anymore awkwardness in one night, he stood from his seat and slowly back pedaled down the hallway. "Sarah and I are just friends and I'm not exactly sure if we'd ever get to be more than that, so... I'm tired, and... I'm gonna go to bed. G'night." With that, he turned, leaving the unofficial/official Team Bartowski in the living room, and collapsed face first into his bed.

The day had been great. There was no denying that. Chuck genuinely enjoyed being in Sarah's company and she seemed to enjoy being in his. But he couldn't help but relive the moment where he dropped her off outside of her apartment. If they were dating, he would have given her a kiss. If they'd been good friends, like he thought they were but wasn't sure if she was on the same page, he would have opted for a hug. A handshake would have made it more awkward than it already was, not that Chuck thought it could get anymore awkward than not doing anything and just simply saying goodbye. He wanted to run his head through a paper shredder because of how poorly he had handled that situation. He should've done something, _anything_ to ease the tension that had built up on the drive home. He would've asked when they could see each other again but he didn't want to come off pushy or desperate. And besides, he was sure that their managers would come up with something to get them to meet up again. The whole ordeal was messing with Chuck's mind. Sure it wasn't as discombobulating as say, having a government database in his head, but their "cover" made him second guess all of Sarah's actions and all of his own. The only silver lining to this entire thing is that he got to hang out with Sarah Walker and that his name was finally getting out there.

And, for now, he would have to be okay with that.

* * *

And another chapter is done! I'm slowly losing this buffer that I have so I really need to start writing again... LOL! Until next time!

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Fluffy Pikachu Loves You!


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